U.s. Orders Trail Riders To Invite Women

November 06, 1994|By Scripps Howard News Service.

REDDING, Calif. — For more than half a century, members of the Tribe Ride Association have left their wives at home to gallop through a meadows and stands of pine and cedar in the Modoc National Forest.

Male bonding, once ensured by men-only rules, has been central to the group's annual summer ride, which includes campside cattle-roping, goat-tying and occasional foul language.

But this year, in an effort to encourage a mixing of the sexes and to comply with federal civil rights laws, the Forest Service ordered the riders to include women in the outing.

Grudgingly, the group dumped its men-only policy, and some members invited their wives on the ride in August. The wives declined, and since then, the group has enlisted the help of Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) to force the Forest Service to reverse its stance.

"I'm tired of seeing our freedoms go down the drain," said Tribe Rider George Walker of Chico.

"The government is telling us what we can and can't do. The next thing you know they'll be telling us to invite homosexuals."

The crackdown was directed by Forest Supervisor Diane Henderson, who said she was simply trying to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws.

"What they needed to understand is, if they were to receive a forest permit, they needed to make sure that they did not discriminate," said Nancy Gardner, Modoc National Forest spokeswoman.

"It's not hammering over people's heads, but it's a matter of working on behalf of our diverse, multicultural society."

About 100 Tribe Ride members gather every August for four days to ride 40 miles of trails in the Warner Mountains of northeastern California. They live the pioneer lifestyle, camping in large meadows and bathing in lakes.

Floyd Porter, a Tribe Rider trail boss and Alturas rancher, said the group's charter excluded women when it was formed in 1941.

"Our bylaws had always said, `No women, no stud horses, no dogs or no guns allowed on the ride,' " he said. "They took offense to that, so we cut it out."

Porter said members showed the government that they had invited women by handing in letters from 10 wives who said they had been invited but declined the offer. "We made sure of that," he said.

In a Sept. 28 letter to Herger, Henderson stated that the Forest Service is simply enforcing laws that prohibit groups that use federal land from discriminating. The laws include the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Code of Federal Regulations.

Henderson, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, defended her position in a letter to Herger while responding to protests from Walker. "I assure you there is no `feminist agenda' as Mr. Walker states, nor do I believe our federal laws are unfair or intrusive," she wrote.